VonSchweikert VR4JR vs Magenpan MG 1.6

I owned 1.6's for many years and have heard the VR4jr's on several occassions, although not in my house. Personally, I never found the VR4jr's sound very compelling, maybe I just got so used to the large, diffuse soundstage of the Maggies. Obviously, many others disagree as they are a popular speaker. Like Dave says, you need to have a room you can let them breath in, they don't like to be close to the walls. I also found they needed a sub to reinforce the lower frequencies. Again, others disagree on that point.

I think the spacing you are using for the VS's will work fine for 1.6's, that should be plenty of room. Yes, the Maggies will make some images larger than life, solo acoustic guitar for example. At no time did it ever bother me though. On the whole, they present a well integrated image. Durability was never an issue for me. I had one pair for about seven years and then the 1.6's for about five, never a hiccup. I think there is some consensus that delamination of the mylar is likeliest to occur if they are left in direct sunlight for prolonged periods. No product is 100% failure proof, but on the whole, Magnepan makes a very reliable speaker line. FWIW, if I were inclined to jump into the planar speaker pool again at that price point, I'd also look very hard at the Eminent Technology LFT-16, a very interesting design that's getting some great reviews. Bound for Sound & Affordable Audio both recently reviewed them very favorably.

Thanks Doug, the LFT-8b was one I meant to reference. Too many reviews crammed into the grey matter.